Friends of Slytherins
by Kinz
Summary: Yet another Lily-and-James-hate-each-other-until-seventh-year fic, but this time Lily's different. Friends with a Slytherin? Wanting to be in Slytherin? Sounds pretty different to me! Rating just for now, R&R. Dedicated to Becki. LJ eventually.
1. Look, Mum, it's an owl!

**Disclaimer: **I don't want to own Harry Potter, but couldn't I PLEASE have Oliver Wood, Sirius Black, and Draco Malfoy? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

**A/N:** w00t, me newest story! I actually have two more Harry Potter ones started, but I don't feel like typing them up (they're hand-written), and they suck. But anyway, my friend Becki (who is a character in this story) has been reading this and bugging me for quite a while to write more, so I decided to see if people liked it before I write too much more. I actually kinda like this fic, so that's a good start.

This fic will hopefully go until Lily and James die, but I can't guarantee anything; I tend to get tired of stories quite quickly. However, if Becki keeps begging and bugging me to keep writing, I guess I'll have to write.

So read and review, sil vous plait!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lily Evans was your normal 11-year-old child. She enjoyed spending time with friends, singing, and most of all, reading. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she had the look of someone who was suddenly going to become beautiful. The ugly duckling, if you please, without the ugly.

Lily strongly believed in magic, and wished on every shooting star that she was really a witch in disguise. Unfortunately, as far as she knew, she was perfectly magic-less and normal.

That is, until one fateful day at the end of July…

"LILY ROSE EVANS!" her mother yelled up the steep stairs of the Evans' house. An eleven-year-old girl with golden-red hair, flushed cheeks, and startlingly green eyes ran down the stairs, panting and giggling, a slightly guilty look on her face.

"Yes, mum?"

"Lily, look at the mess you made!"

Lily looked guiltily at the mess in the kitchen. "I was trying to make cookies."

"What, and blow up the kitchen as well?" Mrs. Evans scolded, and then laughed. "Here, Lils, I'll help you clean it up."

Lily groaned. "Mum… I was in the middle of the best of my book! You can't _possibly_ expect me to clean this up _now_, can you?"

"Well, would you like to clean it up on your own?"

Silence.

"I thought so. Come on, you wipe off the table and counters and I'll clean the bowls and spoons and everything else."

Lily nodded, grabbed a rag out of the sink, and began to wash off the table. Halfway done with that, she grew bored and started staring out the window instead. Her neighbor was riding his bicycle around the neighborhood, Old Mrs. Greene was out weeding her garden, and… wait, was that an _owl_? It was noon; owls weren't supposed to be out during the day!

"Mum, look! There's an owl out by the mailbox! Come look!"

Mrs. Evans hurried to the window and looked out, but it was too late; the owl had already gone.

"Mum, that was a real _owl_, out during the day! I saw it put something in the mailbox, too!" Lily exclaimed, excited. Without another word, she rushed out to the mailbox at the end of their driveway, still in her bare feet.

She opened the mailbox door and pulled out a rather think and heavy envelope. It was addressed to her in green ink:

**Miss Lily Rose Evans** **Second Bedroom On The Left**

She stopped there without reading the rest of the address and stared. Did she have a stalker or something? How would they know what bedroom she was in?

Then she remembered the owl. It was almost like….

"Magic!" she whispered under her breath.

She walked slowly to the house, opening the envelope carefully. Inside it was three sheets of the same paper that the envelope was made out of.

She unfolded the first piece of parchment, for that was what she guessed it was, and read it while walking towards the house.

**Dear Miss Lily Evans,**

**I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**

At this, Lily stopped. Could it be that this really was magic, or was this all some elaborate prank thought up by somebody at school or her sister, Petunia?

Lily ran to her house and burst through the door.

"Mum!" she yelled, pushing the door behind her.

Her mother appeared, a sponge in her hand.

"Lily, what is it?"

Lily shoved the envelope into her mum's hand. Her mum took it and read it silently.

Mrs. Evans shook her head. "Lily, this must be some kind of joke. You know magic doesn't exist. "

"It does so exist!" Lily protested, taking back the letter and reading the rest. "Who would send me something like this, delivered by an owl, besides" she consulted the letter "Hogwarts?"

"I don't know, hun, but I'm afraid it's just a prank. Maybe Petunia sent it. You never know."

Lily took out the next sheet of parchment. "Mum, look, the supply list! Robes, spellbooks, wands… I can even bring a cat!"

"Lily, dear, even if this is real, where would we get a wand?"

"Mmm," Lily mumbled, now looking at the last sheet of paper that was in the envelope. She looked up when she was done.

"This explains everything. Listen:

"'**Dear Lily Potter,**

"**We understand being magic may come as a great surprise to you, as you are Muggle-born, but please understand that this is not a prank or a joke. A qualified witch or wizard will be coming on August 15th to escort you to Diagon Alley, the location of magical goods and school supplies.**

"**Please reply to this message and send it with the owl that delivered this letter no later than July 31st.**

"**Sincerely,**

"**Minerva McGonagall **

"**Deputy Headmistress**'

"Isn't that great? I'm a _witch_!" Lily finished, jumping around.

At that moment, the door opened and closed and a tall girl with long blond hair walked in. She saw Lily jumping around and put her hands on Lily's shoulders, forcing her to stop jumping.

"'Tunia, guess what?" Lily said, spinning around so that she was facing Petunia.

"You're a witch," Petunia deadpanned.

Lily looked confused. "How did you know?"

"Huh? What? I was joking, Lily."

Lily shrugged Petunia's hands off and started jumping around again. "I'm a WITCH! I'm a WITCH! I'm a WITCH!"

Lily shoved the letter into Petunia's hands and skipped upstairs to her room, where several shouts of joy could be heard.

Petunia read the letters, her lips moving as she read the words, and then 13-year-old threw them in the air and stomped up to her room, slamming her door. Mrs. Evans watched her, sighed, and walked into the kitchen to start making dinner.

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Time came and went, and soon enough August 15th came. That morning, Lily was jumping around and eating her sugar-filled cereal as she waited for her escort to come. She had gotten up at 6:00 in the morning, filled with excitement and eager anticipation, and woke up her mum as well, who then came down, gave Lily money for the supplies, and made breakfast.

However, Lily had a while to wait. The magical person – witch or wizard, Lily didn't have a clue – hadn't arrived yet, and it was already 9:30 A.M.!

Just as she was going to ask for the gazillionth time when the person would get there, there was a commotion in the living room.

It sounded like Santa Claus had come down the chimney, only with more people. And the people were _noisy_.

"Ouch, James, get off my foot!"

"I'd get off your foot if Megan would get off of _me_!"

"Oh, stop whining, James, I'm getting up."

"Well, hurry up!"

"Megan, Ally, James, hush! You're going to scare the poor Muggles half to death!"

Lily and her mother looked at each other, then ran over to the door and threw it open. In the living room were four rather sooty people – a woman, two girls, and a boy. The woman looked up from scolding her children and smiled brightly.

"You must be the Evans family! I'm sorry about the mess we made; the children managed to Floo themselves right on top of each other. I'm Aurora Potter, and these are my children Megan, Ally, and James. We're here to take you to Diagon Alley, Lily."

Lily liked these people immediately. Ally was a short, rosy-cheeked girl about Lily's age with long black hair and a smile on her face. James had a mischievous grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He was about that same age as Ally and Lily, and he looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. He was yawning and his black hair was messy and stuck up in the back. Megan was about sixteen or seventeen and had very interesting hair. It was waist-length and red in the very front, just a lock on either side of her face, and the rest was shoulder-length and black. It looked cool, Lily decided, especially on Megan.

Mrs. Evans smiled. "Would you like to have a bit of breakfast before you go?"

"Thanks, but we've already eaten," Ally said politely. She turned to her mother. "Can we go yet?"

Mrs. Potter laughed. "It's Ally's first time at Diagon Alley also. I thought that Ally and James should wait to see Diagon Alley until they were Hogwarts-age, so Ally hasn't seen it yet. James shouldn't have seen it yet, but their father was too lenient to follow that rule, so he took James to Diagon Alley last year."

"Can we go yet?" Ally repeated with a begging look in her eyes.

Mrs. Evans laughed. "Go. I can't go; I've got to watch Petunia. Lily, you go and have fun with the Potters. Don't be home too late, though."

"YES!" Lily cheered. "Oh, don't worry, mum, I'll be home early. I'll be an angel," she added as an afterthought.

Mrs. Evans chuckled. "I'm sure you will." She turned to Mrs. Potter. "You'll get her home before dark?"

"We'll be home way before dark. Don't worry about a thing; I'll keep the kids safe."

"I know you will. Now, you should go so you can be back in time. Have fun!"

"I will," Lily said, an excited twinkle in her eyes.

Mrs. Potter was looking in her pockets for something, and finally produced a small bag. She smiled and held it out to Lily.

"Floo Powder?"

Lily looked at it uncertainly. "What do I do with it?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting that you're from a Muggle family. Here, Megan, you go first and Lily can follow you. Now, all you have to do, Lily, is throw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace, step in, and shout 'Diagon Alley' very clearly. Make sure you say it very clearly, because there's no telling where you could end up if you don't say it clearly enough. Watch Megan and then you go next."

Megan threw a handful of the silvery blue powder into the fireplace. An emerald flame sprouted up and the teen stepped into it, yelled 'Diagon Alley!' and disappeared.

Lily looked uncertain still, but she took a handful of Floo Powder and repeated what Megan did.

She suddenly started spinning rapidly. She spun faster and faster until she thought she was going to be sick. Just as she was sure she was going to throw up, the spinning abruptly stopped and she fell to the ground.

She was in a different place than the Evan's fireplace, that was sure. She was in a tiny pub. She could see Megan to the side, crossing her arms and looking aloof. Lily got to her feet and walked over to Megan.

"Where are we?" Lily asked.

Megan looked down at Lily. "We're in the Leaky Cauldron. It's a pub in London that only magical people can get to."

Lily looked around and wrinkled her nose. "Wow. This is the first magical place I've ever been to, and it doesn't look very magic."

Just then, James tumbled out of the fireplace. Megan laughed at him.

"James, Lily came out of there better than you did, and this was her first Floo trip!"

James turned red and mumbled something inaudible. Lily couldn't help but giggle. James glared and was about to say something but was knocked over by Ally coming out of the fire.

"Oops," Ally said innocently. James turned around to face Ally and glared at her.

"What? You should've known to move away, James," Ally giggled.

James rolled his eyes and stepped away from the fireplace as Mrs. Potter came out of the fireplace, narrowly missing Ally.

"OK! Lily, this is called the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley. We're on a tight schedule, so let's go."

Mrs. Potter led the way through a back door and they all stood facing a brick wall.

"Uh… how do we get through this? It's a brick wall," Lily pointed out. James smirked.

"Watch."

Mrs. Potter took out her wand and tapped bricks in what seemed to be a particular order. When she had tapped the last brick, the bricks parted to make a doorway.

Lily stared in wonder. It was just now sinking in that she was a witch; that this could all be at her fingertips in a couple of years.

"Wow," was all she could say as she stared. She looked over at Ally, who was also staring in awe.

Mrs. Potter laughed. "Impressive, huh?"

Lily and Ally nodded dumbly. James laughed loudly at the sight of their faces, causing Ally to smack him upside the head.

"Shut up, James."

"Well, excuse _me_, your Royal Highness."

"Hush up, James. Let her be amazed if she wants. If I remember correctly, you were like this the first time you were here, too," Megan pointed out.

James fake-pouted. Lily couldn't help but giggle and he looked at her with a cheeky smile on his face. She laughed harder and he stuck out his tongue.

Megan smacked him. "Stop flirting with Lily, James."

James stuck out his tongue at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Now, if you're all finished, first on our list is Gringotts Bank so Lily can get her money exchanged. Then we'll head for Madame Malkin's for robes," Mrs. Potter said.

"Can we go to the pet store?" Ally asked. "I want to get a cat!"

Mrs. Potter smiled. "We can go to the pet store, Ally, but I'm not guaranteeing that we can get a cat."

"…Fine."

They walked through the streets of Diagon Alley, Lily gaping at every show of magic that came her way. Once in a while James would look over at her and laugh, making her laugh too.

Lily was high on life as she got her money exchanged, got her robes fitted, got her Potions equipment, and got her schoolbooks. Nothing could get any better… but it could get worse.

Lily, James, and Ally were on their own in the Alley. Megan and Mrs. Potter were off getting Megan her school supplies that were in other shops, and left the first years to by themselves to wander around Diagon Alley. The trio was making their way to the ice cream parlor to get some ice cream when Lily was suddenly bumped from behind, causing her to fall over. She got up and turned around.

"Watch it!"

There were several nasty-looking boys and one girl there, one of which had obviously bumped into her. She guessed that the one that had bumped into her was the one with hair so blond that it was almost white, as he was smirking and sneering at her.

The boys all snickered. Lily glared and Ally and James turned around. Lily's companions' faces darkened as they recognized who the boys were.

"Malfoy, Snape, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and Bagley. What an unpleasant surprise," James sneered, sounding angry.

"Potter. How pleasant it is to see you," the blond-haired one sneered back. "Who's the Mudblood?"

James snarled and lunged towards 'Malfoy', but Ally held him back. "Don't call her a Mudblood."

"Ooh, got a special spot for the Mudblood, does he? Maybe we'll have to curse her."

Lily looked at Ally, who was mouthing something at her. Lily tilted her head in confusion.

"Dammit, Lily, come here and get behind me!" Ally hissed softly, still holding James back from killing Malfoy. Lily nodded faintly and scooted behind Ally.

"Oh, is the _Mudblood_ scared?" 'Snape' taunted.

"Severus, Lucius, stop. Whoever she is, she doesn't deserve it," 'Bagley' said, nudging Snape. He looked at her and she winked so discreetly that Lily and her friends didn't see it.

"Don't… call… her… a… Mudblood!" James shouted at the same time. Several people looked in her direction, shook their heads, and continued doing whatever they were doing before.

Suddenly there was another voice coming from behind Lily.

"Shove off, Malfoy. Go pick on someone with the same intelligence level as you. Oh, wait, nobody here's that stupid."

Lily looked behind her. There was a tall boy with long black hair who looked to be about the same age as the rest of them standing there with an angry look on his face. He stepped up next to James.

"I mean it, Malfoy. You too, Snape. Go away."

"Black, the blood traitor. Still friends with Potter, I see. It's a shame, you could be so powerful if you would only rejoin your family," Malfoy said.

Black's face contorted with anger and he whipped out his wand, pointing it to the group of boys.

"Never say that again," he hissed dangerously, an edge to his voice that Lily had never heard in anyone's voice before.

Malfoy seemed to be at a loss of words, and then he turned around and walked away, his entourage following him.

Lily let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, as did Ally. Ally turned around, letting go of James' robes, and looked sympathetically at Lily.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, Lily. They're evil through-and-through. Don't pay any attention to them, though; they're like that to everybody."

'Black' and James were talking, and then they both turned around to look at Lily.

"Lily, this is Sirius," James said, pointing to 'Black'. Sirius smiled mischievously and winked at Lily, who smiled back.

"I'm confused, though," Lily said. "What were they calling me? What's a Mudblood?"

Ally scowled. "It's a really foul name for someone who's Muggle-born, someone like you."

"Oh."

They all stood for a minute in silence and then James spotted his mother and Megan coming towards them.

"Hello, Sirius," Mrs. Potter said pleasantly.

"Hey, Mrs. Potter," Sirius answered politely.

"What happened when we were gone? You said you'd go to the ice-cream shop, but you're still here. What held you up?" Megan asked.

James scowled. "Malfoy and his groupies, that's what happened. They called Lily a Mudblood."

"He did not," Megan said unbelievingly.

"He did," Lily confirmed.

"That little… Lily, if he bothers you at Hogwarts, just tell me. I'm Prefect this year, and I'll be sure he gets what he deserves."

"OK."

"Let's go to Ollivander's, then, shall we?" Mrs. Potter cut in cheerfully.

"Yeah, let's go," Ally said, relieved to be doing something.

An hour later, they exited Ollivander's with their new wands. Ally's wand was 10 inches long, had one unicorn tail hair in it, and was made of willow wood. Lily's wand was similar, 10 and a quarter inches long, made of willow, and a unicorn hair in it. James' wand however, was made of mahogany, eleven inches, and had a phoenix feather in it. Megan already had her wand, of course, as she was going into her sixth year at Hogwarts, and Sirius had gotten a wand earlier that day.

As they had some time left to spend before they had to get Lily home, the group, now including Sirius, walked to the pet store.

In the pet store, Lily looked around for a while before she saw her two perfect animals. They were matching, amazingly enough, even though one was a cat and one was an owl.

They were both black and both had a white crescent moon on their forehead. Lily fell in love with them immediately, and had just enough money to get both of them and still have plenty of money left for Hogwarts.

Ally had looked around the entire store, but hadn't found a cat she liked, so she got an owl instead. Ally's owl was strikingly similar to Lily's owl; it was white and had a black crescent moon on its forehead.

James also got an owl. It was white with black at the end of its feathers, but the first thing he did once he got out of the store was charm it with his new wand so it changed colors every thirty seconds. Lily got dizzy just looking at it. First it was blue, then green, then yellow, purple, black, white, turquoise, and then it repeated the pattern again.

Unfortunately, after they got out of the pet shop, it was time to go. Making their way to the Leaky Cauldron, James said good-bye to Sirius, as did Lily and Ally.

Lily and Mrs. Potter Flooed back to the Evans' house, and after Lily had thanked her, Mrs. Potter flooed to the Potter residence.

Lily turned to her mother. "That was the best time I've had in my whole life."

Mrs. Evans smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Me too. Oi, Mum, wanna meet my new pets?"

A look of alarm made its way to Mrs. Evans' face. "Lily, you know you're not allowed to have pets in the house. Petunia's allergic."

"Well, I'll be bringing them to Hogwarts, so she'll only have to worry about it for another fifteen days," Lily pointed out, taking her animals out of their cages.

"This is Diablo," Lily pointed to the cat, "and this is Shadow," she said, pointing to the owl.

"You got an _owl_?" Mrs. Evans exclaimed. "Well, this is going to be hard to explain to the neighbors…"

"Oh, come on, mum. They carry letters and everything! I can keep in touch with you from Hogwarts with Shadow. Plus, isn't she the cutest little thing?"

"Yes, she is adorable…" Mrs. Evans said reluctantly. "And so is Diablo. Why did you name Diablo that, anyway?"

Lily giggled. "The storekeeper told me that she was a real hassle for everyone who bought her, so I named her Diablo. She's really sweet to me, though."

As if to enforce Lily's point, Diablo jumped into Lily's arms and snuggled against her, purring loudly.

Mrs. Evans laughed. "All right, they can stay. Just keep them in your room, okay?"

"M'kay," Lily agreed, imaging all the things she could do at Hogwarts with her supplies and her friends.


	2. Becki, why do they say we have to fight ...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter related characters, spells, objects, etc. If you would sue me, which I very much hope you wouldn't, since it's my birthday today, you would only get my wonderful new birthday presents.

**A/N:** w00t! It's my birthday today! 14 years old, 26 minutes from now! I feel special! So, anyway, for a birthday treat for all of you, I decided to update! Becki, sorry, I only wrote about half a page more than what you saw last. I'm working on it, promise! Everyone else, I'm sorry it's so short. 8 pages. Short. Jeez, I must be losing my touch - I have a chapter written for another story that's over 15,000 words.

In this chapter: the introduction of Becki (the conniving Slytherin), Lily's budding friendship with Remus Lupin, and the beginning of why she hates James Potter.

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Lily spent most of the next fifteen days in her room, practicing spells and reading the spellbooks, memorizing definitions and spells just in case she was called on. Petunia laughed at her and called her a bookworm, but Lily ignored her. Petunia had become quite unpleasant since Lily had gotten her Hogwarts letter. Lily was hurt, but tried not to show it.

However, it was now September 1st, and Lily was only thinking of how excited she was, for today was the day she left for Hogwarts.

She was even more excited than the day she went to Diagon Alley, if that was possible.

She managed to make it through a couple hours at home, and now she was at King's Cross Station, staring at platforms 9 and 10, trying to figure out where the heck Platform 9 ¾ was. She was alone, since Petunia was 'sick' and Mrs. Potter had to stay with her. Lily seriously doubted that Petunia was sick; Petunia was probably just pretending to be ill just so she didn't have to go see Lily off.

It was now 10:45 and she still had no clue where the platform was. Just as she was going to give up and ask for help, she saw the Potters. Giving a sigh of relief, she pushed her trolley over to where the Potters were.

They were all talking together, and then Megan pushed away from the group and walked to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. She then confidently pushed her loaded trolley right towards the barrier. Just as Lily was sure she would crash into the barrier, Megan disappeared.

Lily gasped and the Potters turned towards her. Ally's face lit up.

"Lily!"

"Hey, Ally, James, Mrs. Potter."

"Hello, Lily! Confused about where the platform is?"

Lily nodded.

"OK, all you have to do is walk right through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. You won't crash, I promise. Here, James will go first, and then you can go first. It's best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"OK," Lily said, definitely feeling nervous.

She watched James wheel his trolley towards the barrier and casually walk through.

"Doesn't he get scared?" Lily whispered to Ally. Ally shook her head.

It was now Lily's turn. She gulped and pushed her trolley towards the barrier, and then pushed it through, closing her eyes tightly.

The crash she expected didn't come. She opened her eyes and gasped.

She was obviously at the platform, as there was a sign that proclaimed proudly 'Platform 9 ¾'. She wheeled her trunk out of the way as Ally came through, also closing her eyes.

Lily took a bigger look around. There were kids and parents everywhere, and she could see a scarlet train engine waiting next to the platform.

Ally wheeled her cart next to Lily. "It's something, isn't it?" Ally whispered.

Lily nodded silently. It was awe-inspiring. She shook out of her reverie and took her trunk and animal cages off of the trolley and wheeled her trunk to the last empty compartment of the train. Ally followed her and they both hefted their trunks into a corner of the compartment. They both got in and sat opposite from each other.

The doors all closed, and with a jolt, the train started moving. Lily nearly squealed with excitement and opened Diablo's cage, letting the black cat out. It leapt into Lily's lap with a contented purr and promptly fell asleep.

About fifteen minutes later, a blonde girl stepped into the compartment. Lily recognized her as the girl with the Slytherins, the one who had been next to Snape. The one who had stuck up for her.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Ally looked up from gazing out the window and scowled. "Bagley, go away."

"Ally, let her sit here. She's done nothing wrong," Lily said.

Ally rolled her eyes. "Fine, Bagley can sit here, but don't blame me if she hurts you."

"_Moi_? Hurt someone? Impossible!" 'Bagley' said, looking innocent. Ally snorted and turned away to look out the window once again.

'Bagley' stuck out her hand to Lily. "Becki Bagley. Sorry for Severus and Lucius's actions. They're just… just… just like that sometimes."

Lily took her hand and shook it. "Lily Evans. Just make sure they don't do it again."

Becki smiled. "I'll try. It's not like I've got a lot of influence over them, though…"

Lily shrugged. "Just do your best."

"Will do."

The two talked for a while. Ally was blatantly ignoring Becki, and Becki was doing the same to Ally.

"So, do you like showtunes?" Lily was asking Becki (A/N Sorry, HUGE Teen Titans fan. Had to put that in.) when James and his crew, which consisted of him, Sirius, and two boys that Lily didn't recognize, walked into the compartment. It was getting quite full.

James saw Becki and narrowed his eyes. "Bagley, I'll give you one chance to get out before we all curse you."

Becki stood up and laughed. "You can try, if you like, but it's very unlikely that you'll succeed. If you remember, I won that duel last year, and I can do it again."

James pulled out his wand from his pocket. "I gave you one chance, Bagley, and you blew it." He pointed his wand at her. She took out her own wand.

"I bet you couldn't hurt a fly, Potter."

"Bet I could hurt one better than you."

"Bet – Never mind. I'm not going to be so _childish_ as to argue about who could hurt a fly more."

"Oh yeah?" James sneered, unable to come up with a better comeback.

"Yeah, but I guess you don't have that kind of maturity, do you, Potter? God never granted you with that gift, and he never will. Now, if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be. Goodbye, Lily," Becki said, waving to Lily and scowling at James and Ally.

"Bye, Becki!" Lily called after Becki. Becki waved and continued until she found a reasonable empty compartment in the Slytherin section of the train.

Lily turned to James. "Why did you do that? She was being nice, unlike you! What is _wrong_ with you?"

"What's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_ is the question! Making friends with a Slytherin! Shame on you!" James snapped back.

"Oh, and it's all _my_ fault that she's nice? Get a life, Potter, and a clue. She stuck up for me in Diagon Alley, and she was nice to me on the train, which is more than you have done."

James ignored that little outburst and turned to his twin.

"Hey, Ally, can we sit here? The train is full, except for the Slytherin compartments."

Ally looked around at the two girls and four boys. "I don't think there's enough room."

Lily glared at James. "Don't worry, I was just leaving. Ally, I'll see you later. Maybe."

Ally shrugged. "Have it your way, then. Go sit with Bagley."

Lily stalked out the door and went to the compartment that Becki had gone into. It was just Becki and Snape in the compartment, talking. Lily cleared her throat and Becki looked towards the door.

"Hey, Lily! What's up?"

"Potter's a bloody idiot and I refuse to sit by him. Can I sit with you?"

Becki looked at Snape and he shrugged. Becki nodded.

"Go ahead."

Lily smiled. "Thanks." She sat down across from where Becki and Snape were sitting next to each other.

--------SKIP AHEAD TO AFTER THE TRAIN RIDE----------

"Firs' years! Firs' years! This way!"

Lily's head snapped towards the booming voice. It was coming from a giant man.

"Who's that?" she whispered to Becki.

"Hagrid. He's the gamekeeper."

"Oh. He's a bit large, isn't he?"

"Rumor has it that he's half-giant," Becki whispered back.

Lily's eyes went wide. "Is he safe?"

"I doubt it. He set a monster on the students when he was still in Hogwarts. It's a wonder that Dumbledore kept him on as gamekeeper."

James, who had been listening from behind, pushed past Becki with a muttered, "He's safer than you are, Bagley".

Lily scowled. "Bloody idiot…"

Becki shrugged. "He's not bothering me. It's rather funny, actually, to see him try and make me mad. I'm a better duelist, anyways, and he knows it. I beat him in a fencing tournament last year, and he had been taking years of lessons as opposed to my two months of lessons. He challenged me to a wand duel, and I beat him in that too. We used stolen wands and almost got expelled from Hogwarts before we even got our letters, but it was worth it."

Lily giggled. "I would've loved to see his face when you beat him."

"Yeah, it was great."

By that time, they were in the boats. Suddenly, Hogwarts came into view. Lily gasped, wide-eyed.

"Wow…" Lily breathed.

Becki shrugged and looked blasé. "It's OK, I guess, but you should see Lucius' mansion. It's about as big as the castle. Malfoy Manor, it's called."

"Wow. I can't even imagine living in somewhere this big and grand," Lily said in awe.

"Get used to it, because this is going to be your home for most of the next seven years. Unless you get expelled, of course," Becki pointed out.

All Lily did was nod and get out of the boat, since they were at the other bank of the lake.

Hagrid knocked once, twice, three times on the door to the castle before a stern-looking witch in a green wizard's hat opened it.

The children were herded inside to a room with no windows. As soon as the witch, Professor McGonagall, as she had introduced herself as, had left, the room erupted in conversation.

"I heard to get Sorted, we have to fight a troll!" one chubby-faced boy exclaimed a bit frightfully.

"Why would you have to fight a troll?" a girl with blond hair scoffed. "We're not supposed to _die_ during the Sorting, stupid, we're supposed to be sorted."

"All you have to do is try on a hat," Becki whispered to Lily.

"Really? How did people get the idea that they would have to fight a troll?" Lily asked.

Becki tried to look mock-innocent. "No idea, Lils, no idea at all…"

Lily giggled. "Becki, you didn't!"

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

Becki stuck her tongue out at Lily and Lily stuck her tongue out at Becki. Both doubled up with laughter, but stopped abruptly and straightened up as Professor McGonagall stepped back into the room and explained what they had to do to get sorted. Becki was right; all they had to do was try on the Sorting Hat.

"This way," the professor said, leading the eleven-year-olds into the Great Hall. Lily looked up at the ceiling and gasped.

"Becki, look! It looks like there's no ceiling!"

Becki looked up and shrugged. "So?"

"Well, we don't have anything like that in the Muggle world," Lily said. Becki stopped and turned to her.

"You're _Muggle-born_?"

Lily shrugged. "So?"

Becki got a conniving look on her face. "Nothing, nothing… Oi, Lucius!"

She ran to catch up with the blond boy, leaving Lily to run after her. The two Slytherin-to-be's stopped talking when Lily stepped up. Becki gave the slightest nod to Lucius and turned back to Lily.

"So, Lils, what house do you think you'll get into?"

Lily shrugged. "Dunno. I want to be in your house, whatever that is."

Becki nodded wisely. "Good choice. You'll hopefully be in Slytherin, then. It's the best house. I wouldn't want to be in Gryffindor, though. Anything's better than there, even Hufflepuff."

"Bagley, stop trying to corrupt Evans," James' voice came from behind.

Becki said some words not allowed in school to him and James scowled. He said the same words back to Becki and she took out her wand.

"Say that again, Potter, and you'll regret it," she hissed. A firm hand on her shoulder made her turn and James to jump. Professor McGonagall was there with a stern look on her face.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Becki smiled innocently, pocketing her wand. "No, ma'am, I was just showing James here how to properly handle a wand. I'm sorry, ma'am, and it won't happen again."

There were giggles from the house table closest, especially those who had heard the exchange between Becki and James. McGonagall shot them a death glare and most stopped laughing, with the exception of a few giggles here and there.

Professor McGonagall took her place at the front of the room and took out a long list of names. Lily strained to see what was on the stool in front of her and was rewarded with a view of a very old wizards' hat. She jumped as it opened a seam and started to sing. (insert Sorting Hat song here)

When the song was done, the professor began reading off names. Becki's name was the second one called, after Chris Andersson. She calmly walked up to the stool and put the hat on her head. As soon as the hat reached her head, it shouted "Slytherin!". Becki took off the hat and walked over to the Slytherin table, smirking. She winked at Lily, who was crossing her fingers and hoping she would get into Slytherin also.

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily jumped and automatically started walking towards the hat and the stool. She squirmed uncomfortably at the sight of so many eyes upon her, and put on the hat.

_Hmm…_

**Who's there?**

_'Tis the Sorting Hat, my dear. Hmm… where to put you… I think I'd like to get Slytherin, if you don't mind… You would, would you? And why is that?_

**I'd like to be with Becki, if you must know. As long as I'm not with James Potter, I'll be fine, I guess.**

_Slytherin… hmm… that's interesting. You do have certain important Slytherin qualities… a thirst to prove yourself, I see, and ambition… great ambition… but no. I don't think you belong in Slytherin. _

**Stupid hat… what do you know, anyway?**

_A great deal… it's all here in your head, you know, where you belong, what you're feeling, and what you're thinking… Now, to sort you… You belong in GRYFFINDOR!_

The hat shouted the last word out for everybody to hear. Lily disgustedly took the hat off and trudged over to the Gryffindor table, unwillingly sitting down at an empty seat at the end of the table. Empty chairs surrounded it, and she could only hope that nobody would sit there. She wanted to be by her friend, not here with the Gryffindors. She looked over at Becki, who looked at her sympathetically and shrugged.

Lily turned back towards the Sorting in time to see Lupin, Remus get sorted into Gryffindor. A cheer to Lily's right startled her and made her turn to see the offender. It was Sirius Black. He grinned at her with the same cheeky smile that James used so often. She groaned.

"How is it that you came to be sorted into Gryffindor?" she moaned. "Now Potter's going to be sorted into Gryffindor too!"

Sirius shrugged. "We always knew we'd get into Gryffindor. You didn't exactly look happy to be sorted into Gryffindor. What was that all about?"

"I wanted to be with Becki in Slytherin, if you must know. Now I'll never get to see her."

Sirius stared, along with Remus who had by then joined them at the end of the table.

"You wanted to be in _Slytherin_? What are you, some sort of dark witch or something? A Death Eater, perhaps?"

Lily looked confused. "What's a Death Eater?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Never mind. You're not one, I guess, if you don't know what it is. Unless you're just saying that to throw us off…"

"Sirius, if she was a Death Eater, she wouldn't be in Gryffindor," Remus pointed out.

"…Good point…"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Now that that's cleared up, can we please shut up and watch the Sorting?"

"Why would we watch the Sorting? It's no fun."

"Maybe because McGonagall's glaring at us?" Lily shrugged.

"So?" Sirius asked.

"Lily's right. We should watch the Sorting; Peter, Ally, and James are next," Remus said.

The three quieted as Pettigrew, Peter tried on the hat. The hat was on his head for a full minute before it shouted out "Gryffindor!"

Remus and Sirius clapped and hooted wildly as Peter made his way towards them, tripping once. He sat next to Remus and looked at the front of the room as Potter, Ally was sorted. The hat screamed out "Gryffindor!" as soon as it touched her head, just as it had called out "Slytherin!" for Becki as soon as it hit her head.

James took a little longer for the Hat to decide, but he, too, was sorted into Gryffindor. The two Potters arrived at the table together. James sat next to Sirius and Ally took the last available seat in that area, next to Lily.

Soon the Sorting was over. The first years gasped as the food magically appeared, and they all dug in. Lily ate delicately; she wasn't very hungry after getting stuck with the Gryffindors.

She was quiet through dinner, and nobody cared except for Remus. The others, she noticed, were too busy talking about Quidditch, whatever it was, and classes and pranks to notice the freak that wanted to be in Slytherin and instead got into Gryffindor.

Remus, however, was the exception. He was sitting across from her, both on the end of the table. He was the only one who noticed how quiet Lily was being.

"Lily, right?" he said to her. She looked up from where she was staring at her plate absently.

"Yeah. Remus, right?"

He nodded. "So, why are you so quiet?"

Lily shrugged. "Nobody wants to talk to someone who wanted to be in Slytherin but ended up in Gryffindor."

"I do. So what if you have a friend in Slytherin? It doesn't matter."

"It does to them," Lily said darkly. Remus shrugged.

"Don't listen to them. They're just… strongly Gryffindor-ish. They can't stand Slytherins, and I guess they consider you half-Slytherin, since you wanted to be in it," Remus said comfortingly.

Lily scowled. "Well, they can just keep thinking that, because Becki's going to be my friend no matter what anyone says. She's the only one who's _nice_ to me, besides you."

"Oookay then… why aren't you eating anything?"

"Not hungry," Lily answered. She wasn't just saying that to get Remus off her back; she truly wasn't hungry.

Remus shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Thanks, I will. So how do you know Potter and Black and Pettigrew from before Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

Remus explained how they had met (their parents were friends, so they saw each other at least once a month since they were toddlers), and the feast was soon over. Before they could go, Dumbledore gave one final speech.

"If you will all kindly make note, the sixth floor corridor on the left side is off limits due to," he paused, "disrepair. All of those who do not wish to fall through the floor and land most painfully on the stone floor in the fifth story, please make sure you avoid it. In addition, there will be a Dueling Club set up by our very own Professor Fasihi. It will meet every Monday and Thursday, and there will be an informational meeting tomorrow evening in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at 7:30 P.M."

Despite the yawns of students everywhere, an excited chatter filled the Great Hall as Dumbledore dismissed them. Lily could hear whispers of "Dueling Club?" everywhere.

She got up from the table along with everyone else and followed the prefect to the Gryffindor common room, trying to make out what Remus, Potter, Black, and Peter were talking about. She could only make out tiny bits of their conversation.

"…d'you suppose he's telling the truth?…"

"…not sure…"

"…go and check it out…"

Her curiosity was aroused, but her need for sleep overtook it as she followed the rest of the girls in her dorm (including Ally) up the stairs and immediately fell asleep on her bed.


End file.
